


how can one forget?

by wonusbeaut



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mentions of Death, kind of dark and i cant tag for shit so pls proceed with caution
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:54:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29759931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonusbeaut/pseuds/wonusbeaut
Summary: No way.There's no way no one remembers how he killed Jihoon.But Seungcheol is standing in front of him, genuinely smiling at him as he waits for the latter's answer.".. Wonwoo? I asked if you wanted to go back to the dorms? Everyone's there.. we missed you a lot, man."God, he hopes everyone did magically forgot about what happened- including Soonyoung.
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Lee Seokmin | DK
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

Wonwoo remembered how much he fucked up 6 years ago.  
  
He's 25 now, but the guilt still eats him up every single day. There's no day when he didn't feel like shit, but he's too much of a coward. He ran away from his hometown, but the guilt went along with him.  
  
This is why he cannot bring himself to speak when Seungcheol suddenly approached him as he was doing his errand at the grocery store somewhere in Jeju.  
  
_They're probably out to get me, this is too much of a coincidence._  
  
But why the fuck is Seungcheol smiling? Perhaps because they finally found him? And will finally push charges and let him rot to prison? Ha.  
  
"Um.. Won? Hello?"  
  
Seungcheol waved his hands at Wonwoo's face, bringing him back to reality and forcing him to get through this uncomfortable of a situation. Wonwoo feels like puking.  
  
"O-oh yeah, um, yeah.. how did you.. get here again?"  
  
He managed to let out, mentally sighing when he feels that _maybe_ Seungcheol isn't out to get him, seeing as he has that big smile on his face whenever he sees his dear friends.  
  
Or he's just stuck in the past, maybe. It's been 6 years, there's no way Seungcheol didn't change. Or he kept his smile with him, Wonwoo's not sure.  
  
"I'm here for a business trip! It's my free time so I decided to stroll around. And that's how I found you! Crazy, right? It's been 6 years, you didn't even call anyone back home! We thought something happened, but you look great as before!"  
  
Wonwoo freezes. _Yeah, something did happen. That's why I fucking left, Seungcheol._

"Yeah, something happened. That's why I moved.. but I'm doing well now," he replied.

Seungcheol frowned in response, "Oh no, were you going through something? You know you can tell us anything, right?"  
  
Wonwoo squints his eyes, _Is he fucking with me? I was the cause of death of our friend. Why is he acting like nothing happened?_  
  
"Uh, I knew. But I.. I was just shy. But that was before, I'm okay now."  
  
And then Seungcheol's face suddenly lost its shine, recognition and sadness in his eyes evident. _Ah, this is where shit goes down. I am fucked._ "Oh.. is it because of.. you know, uh, Jihoon?"

"W-what? N-" 

  
"Jihoon! I remembered now. You left after Jihoon.. died.."  
  
Wonwoo looked down, the lump in his throat is starting to form. The silence between them was tense, as if talking about Jihoon was forbidden. But to Wonwoo, it is understandable. He gets it; death, especially of someone so dear to you, isn't just something light of a topic to talk about. Wonwoo couldn't think of anything to say to that, he instead just nodded.  
  
"Yeah.. it's still shocking to me." It's true. When he found out about Jihoon's sudden death, it wouldn't sink in until he saw him at the funeral. He couldn't eat for days, his life was at its darkest. It was a major turning point in Wonwoo's life, and so for everyone else's.  
  
Seungcheol sighed. "It's been years, and it did fucked up everyone, especially Soonyoung."  
  
Mention of Soonyoung had his heart beating fast. Shit, Soonyoung. _God, how is he? Fuck, I hope he's doing okay._  
  
"How's.. how's he doing? Is he okay?" He brought hinself to ask.  
  
When the news broke out, it was Soonyoung who was affected so badly. Wonwoo saw how his bestfriend's life fall apart. Wonwoo heard his bestfriend's howls and cries every night. It was so fucking depressing, and Wonwoo hates himself for being the reason why Soonyoung was hurting. And it even hurt more when Wonwoo didn't even try to comfort Soonyoung. The guilt of killing Jihoon was eating him up that even hearing Soonyoung was tempting him to just straight up confess. It was a wonder how he didn't, given that they share the same apartment at that time.  
  
Soonyoung didn't eat for days, choosing to spend his days in the cemetery Jihoon was buried. He.. fuck. Wonwoo shook his head. It pains him to remember such horrendous time his bestfriend experienced. He chose to shove them to the back of his mind.  
  
"You saw it yourself. He was.. when you left, he got broken even more. It's not my story to tell, but it was so bad. He got better though," Seungcheol started.  
  
"He.. he, uh, misses you, Wonwoo. He never knew why you left; no one knew why you left."  
  
Wonwoo feels like crying. It feels like couldn't comprehend shit he's been told, the pain in his chest makes him hard to breathe. He took a deep breath and looked at the man in front of him.  
  
"It's because of Jihoon, I just told you that. I couldn't take it too."  
  
Seungcheol gave him a sad smile, "Do you have plans on going back to Changwon, Wonwoo? It's been 6 years.. we missed you, man. Maybe we can catch up."  
  
Wonwoo sighed. This is what he's scared of, going back to the horrors he went through 6 years ago.  
  
Wonwoo's eyes went wide for a second as he remembered something. He met Seungcheol's gaze again. He almost forgot about how Seungcheol didn't seem to remember how he was the cause of Jihoon's death.  
  
"I'm sorry, I forgot about.. Jihoon.. He got.. why did he-" Wonwoo tried.  
  
"Drunk driving, Wonwoo. It was the night of his birthday."  
  
_Holy fucking shit._ No way. It was not drunk driving. Holy fuck. _They remembered it wrong._  
  
Wonwoo tried to collect himself. Inside, Wonwoo's confused and angry. Maybe Seungcheol _is_ fucking with him. But he sounded sad, and certain. He can't lie about something like this.  
  
What is going on? They can't remember it wrong! He's why Jihoon died!  
  
What the fuck is going on?  
  
"So, Wonwoo, uh.. you want to go back? We missed you."  
  
Wonwoo couldn't believe it. Seungcheol's even asking him to go back.  
  
No way.   
  
There's no way no one remembers how he killed Jihoon.   
  
But Seungcheol is standing in front of him, genuinely smiling at him as he waits for the latter's answer.   
  
".. Wonwoo? I asked if you wanted to go back to the dorms? Everyone's there.. we missed you a lot, man."  
  
God, he hopes everyone did magically forgot about what happened- including Soonyoung.  
  
"I'm actually going back to Changwon next week. Maybe I'll reschedule it so I can go back with you. You still live there, right?" How Wonwoo managed to keep his cool and voice steady is a mystery to him, but he was glad he was able to do so.  
  
Seungcheol smiled. "It's my last day here tomorrow, will you still go with me? And yes, I still live there."  
  
Wonwoo will solve this himself.  
  
  
  
  
  
here is user wonusbeaut back at it again posting but cant even finish a story for gods sake  
slow updates as usual but i'll try to make this story less than 10 chapters! 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> seokmin knows something, wonwoo can feel it.

Wonwoo is nervous. 

After almost a decade, he's going to face everyone he ran away from. 

He's not even fully healed from what happened yet, but screw it. His impulsive ass will probably get him in trouble, but at the moment he gives no fuck. 

Though the flight from Jeju to Changwon took less than an hour, Wonwoo is exhausted. He sighed as he threw himself at the bed in his hotel room he rented out for the week. Why for a week? He doesn't even know; he's not actually planning to stay that long. He stared at the ceiling in front of him and let out a groan. 

The fact that he only had a day to think things through and decide if he really wanted to do it was pressuring. But then, Wonwoo is curious. And he can't just ask anyone if they forgot about _that_. He had no contact with anyone at all; even in social medias he deactivated almost all of his accounts, except one under an alias. 

Again, his impulsive ass. He didn't even consider the fact that maybe.. not everyone forgot about it. Maybe Seungcheol somehow suffered from selective amnesia and forgot about what really happened with Jihoon. Or maybe most of them did and no one really bothered to correct such information.. But why wouldn't they? It's something that affected them so much, and remembering misinformation will do more harm than good. 

Like what's about to happen tomorrow, maybe? 

Wonwoo groaned again. Maybe things are going a bit too fast. He's getting old and he wants to take a rest for as long as he could before he walk straight to a trap. 

🍃 

And tomorrow came. 

It was 8 in the morning when he heard someone knocking on the door. If it was someone unannounced he would've just straight up yell, "Fuck off!" and ignore it until they leave, but Seungcheol informed him yesterday about his visit. Also, he's been awake for a few minutes anyway, so it's fine.   
It's also a good thing that Seungcheol came by, or else Wonwoo wouldn't forgotten about eating breakfast. 

"You brought some for me, yeah?" 

Wonwoo joked as he went to get the bag from Seungcheol, who was getting his shoes off.   
The food smelled nice, and it reminded him of the kimchi fried rice all of them used to eat for breakfast. He took a peak and it was indeed kimchi fried rice! The same packaging but with improved logo on it. Ah, Wonwoo probably tried every place that sells kimchi fried rice in Jeju, but nothing really compares to the place they first stumbled into years ago. It's been a long time, and Wonwoo couldn't believe they're still in business. 

Wonwoo silently thanked Seungcheol for such thoughtness. 

"Of course, if I wanted to eat by myself I wouldn't come here. Duh." 

After several minutes, they finally sat down and ate their breakfast in silence. They would talk about things that don't really matter, and that was it. The air between them wasn't tense or anything bad, it even reminded him of the times they used to do this. It feels like nothing changed. 

They finished eating when Seungcheol spoke up. 

"Oh, are you ready to meet everyone today?" 

🍃 

"God, Wonwoo, I missed you so much!" 

Everyone took turns in greeting Wonwoo, with Soonyoung coming last. It seems like Soonyoung has no plans in letting go of Wonwoo either, for the last five minutes he has Wonwoo in his arms, muttering loud and quiet _I miss you_ 's and _Wonwoo_ 's every now and then. At first, Wonwoo stood there awkwardly, but eventually hugged him back. Wonwoo took his chance to steal a glance at everyone. They look.. normal. They're not looking at him like he's some kind of murderer (which he is, by the way). And it's creeping him out. Everyone forgot about it. Huh, _weird_. 

For the mean time, Wonwoo can breathe easily. 

"Let Wonwoo-hyung go now, Soonyoung-hyung!" 

Chan shook both of them and Soonyoung broke from the hug. Soonyoung smiled at him. 

"Wow, Wonwoo, you- wow.." 

"Yes, Soonyoung-ah, we know, now let's drink first before we make Wonwoo talk the shit out of him." 

Jeonghan interrupted and pulled Wonwoo to the living room. Wonwoo's throat dried at what the former said. 

🍃 

Just like what he did(n't) expect, it went well. 

Too well, actually. It's creeping him out. 

Wonwoo can now conclude that no one remembers what he did six years ago. 

But why? What sort of magic did happen in Changwon that made the crippling memory vanish from everyone's minds? It gives Wonwoo mixed feelings. It's weird, disturbing, relieving, happy, for some reason. But Wonwoo knows better than to stay in Changwon. He rejected Soonyoung's offer in staying with him for the mean time before flying back to Jeju. He wanted to be with them but at the same time distant enough so when things go downhill.. his feelings won't cloud his judgement. 

He's walking to the grocery store with Seokmin to buy refreshments and snacks, the latter forcing him to come along so that the two can also catch up. 

Seokmin is still the same Seokmin he left years ago. He looked more mature now, and Wonwoo's sure his way of thinking did too. There's a lot of things that can be looked past into when you see the physical appearance first. 

The dorms are now in their line of sight as they get back with the food, and the lights make the mood more calming when Seokmin stopped. Wonwoo turned his head at him, eyes narrowing in confusion. 

"Seok-" 

"Wonwoo.. why?" 

He didn't call him hyung. _Huh._ Wonwoo tilted his head, and tried to smiled his confusion away at Seokmin who was looking at him with.. genuine curiosity? His eyes looked gentle, even. 

"Why what? What's wrong?" 

"It's just that.." Seokmin started. He mumbled things Wonwoo couldn't understand. Seokmin probably knows he's not making any sense now, but he was still looking at Wonwoo while he was speaking. So Wonwoo nodded his head in encouragement, 

"Take your time, it's okay." 

That must've shaken Seokmin out of a daze. His eyes met Wonwoo's again, and Wonwoo couldn't decipher the emotions Seokmin's eyes were showing. Seokmin shook his head and started walking again. Wonwoo followed him. 

"It's nothing, I'm probably just drunk.." 

"Heh, I heard you say you missed me," 

"Well, you definitely heard it wrong. I didn't even know what I was saying!" 

Seokmin's cheeks flushed; because of the alcohol or he's embarrassed, Wonwoo doesn't know. But he finds it cute. 

"You know, a lot changed when you were gone." 

They're at the door now when Seokmin started again in a quiet voice, setting down the bags and fumbled with the back of his jeans to get the keys. Wonwoo wondered why he didn't just knocked. But Wonwoo didn't say anything about it, and waited for him to continue. When he realized Seokmin was waiting for an answer, he let out a hum and replied in low voice, too. Why are they whispering anyway? 

"Yeah, like what?" 

"Uh.. Seungcheol pursued marketing instead." 

"Yeah, I knew that. Tell me something I don't know." 

Seokmin stopped fumbling for a minute and tried to think of something. He looked at Wonwoo and smiled cheekily, 

"Jisoo doesn't like playing instruments now.." Seokmin's smile faded, "Because of what happened." He looked at Wonwoo with such emotion that he can't decipher and Wonwoo's not sure of what to feel about his gaze. It's burning him, but at the same time it's making his insides feel cold. Wonwoo has an idea where this is about to go. It's not like he'll forget about it completely, not now, not ever. 

"Well.. that's disappointing. I knew how much he loved the piano." 

Wonwoo said in reply, stare at Seokmin not waivering. They stayed like that for a moment before Seokmin looked away, sighing. 

"What do _you_ know, Wonwoo-hyung? Tell me now before we go inside, and I won't bother you about this again." 

There it is. Or maybe not. 

Wonwoo isn't sure what Seokmin is talking about. But he has a gut feeling of what it is. 

Wonwoo can just pretend he doesn't know shit, but he knows his conscience can't make it until forever. At some point, he's gonna break and tell everyone the truth. 

But that won't happen if he leaves them and settle miles away. 

But.. Jihoon doesn't deserve that. His friends don't deserve that. And Soonyoung, god. His bestfriend.. Wonwoo knows he can't handle the guilt he'll feel when he goes back into his life again and act like nothing happened. Even more now that apparently, _somebody else knew what really happened._

Wonwoo stood there and looked at him, not knowing what to reply. He noticed Seokmin's jaw stuttering, and he just realized how cold it is outside. 

"Let's go back inside," 

He replied softly, and Seokmin looked at him again. Wonwoo smiled. 

"Come on, it's cold." 

Seokmin narrowed his eyes, but sighed and just nodded. They went back inside the house, and the noise coming from everyone else made it obvious that they had no idea what just happened outside. 

They left it there at that. 

They both knew they couldn't have the conversation where anyone can just press their ears at the door. 

The night went by, with Seokmin avoiding Wonwoo the whole time. It's not noticeable, and it's not like anyone would notice when they have their own thing going, but Wonwoo did. He can't say it didn't hurt him.

* * *

hmmm now im debating if i shouldve made a prompt and left it at that and make other writers do their magic or continue this sorry excuse of a story TT^TT but anyways expect mkre chapters ill make this as short as i can 

as always not betaed and thank u whoevers reading this <3


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